Project X Zone 2
Project X Zone 2, known as Project X Zone 2: Brave New World ( ) in Japan, is a tactical RPG released in 2015/2016 for the Nintendo 3DS. A sequel to 2012's Project X Zone, the game is a massive crossover featuring franchises from Capcom, Bandai Namco and Sega. Story-wise, it also serves as a continuation to the 2005 crossover game Namco × Capcom. The game is a tactical role-playing game similar to Namco × Capcom. Each chapter is set in a grid-based field map where the player moves their units freely within their range. The playable units are Pair Units formed by two characters fighting together, and Solo Units or single characters that can be added to a Pair Unit and provide a single-use assist attack. Both types have access to several varied skills which can be activated in the field map, and all Pair Units have a MAP Attack they can use to attack several enemies at once. Once a target is attacked, the player enters the Cross Active Battle System: the game switches to a side-view perspective and the player performs combination attacks by pressing a direction and the attack button. The player can then combo the enemy with the unit's 5 unique attacks and the Solo Unit's assist attack, as well as call for a nearby Pair Unit to perform a Support Attack. When a Pair and Solo attack connect together a Cross Hit happens which freezes the enemy in place, while attacking the enemy just before it hits the ground produces a critical hit. New gameplay elements in Project X Zone 2 include the Cross Break, a more powerful Cross Hit performed by striking the enemy with specific strong attacks; Mirage Cancel, which places the enemy in slow motion and allows the player to land critical hits; stage hazards and the ability to customize techniques and skills. Story The story is a continuation of Namco × Capcom, and focus on the conflict between the secret agency Shinra and the chaos-spreading Ouma organization. The story begins with Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu traveling to Shibuya to investigate a set of mysterious "Golden Chains" that have suddenly appeared, and it soon becomes apparent that Ouma is involved when Saya and Sheath (from Ouma's American branch) make their appearance. As Reiji and Xiaomu, helped by Dr. Chizuru Urashima and her dimension-hopping vehicle the Dragonturtle Mk.1, travel across worlds and meet allies both old and new, it is revealed that Ouma's plan involves the gathering of the fragments of "99", the final boss from Namco × Capcom, and the mysterious "101 Embryo Plan". Featured franchises include the following: *'Capcom:' Mega Man X, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Resident Evil, Strider, Ace Attorney, Captain Commando, Star Gladiator and Forgotten Worlds. *'Bandai Namco:' Tekken, Tales of Vesperia, God Eater 2, .hack//, Namco × Capcom, Soulcalibur V, Summon Night 3, Valkyrie no Densetsu, Xenosaga, Yokai Dochuki and Ordyne. *'Sega': Yakuza: Dead Souls, Virtua Fighter, Sakura Wars, Shinobi, Resonance of Fate, Space Channel 5, Streets of Rage, Segata Sanshirō and Shenmue. *''Project X Zone 2'' also features guest characters from two Nintendo franchises: Fire Emblem: Awakening and Xenoblade. Strider Representation Characters Stages The Flying Battleship Balrog in its 2nd incarnation is the location visited during Chapter 23. The Flying Battleship is used by M. Bison to mass-produce B.O.W.s from Resident Evil and Aragami from God Eater. When the group discovers this, they use the Dragonturtle Mk-1 to reach it mid-flight in order to destroy it. After dealing with Tong Pooh, Solo, Black Hayato and an army of minor enemies, the party sets explosives and then escape the doomed airship using its catapults (in a nod to the Balrog escape scene from Namco × Capcom) to reach Miyuki's flying shop from Ordyne. The area used in the game is the exterior of the Balrog's tail, a very faithful recreation of the Balrog's 2nd scene in Strider 2. In addition, the group briefly visits the Development Dock (Scene 4) and Reactor Core (Scene 5) when setting the explosives. Pxz2_balrog_area.png|The field map and one Item Box Pxz2_balrog_area_hatch.png|Entrance Hatch Pxz2_tongpooh.png|The 3rd Gun Turret Pxz2_solo_idle.png|Active Battle screen Pxz2_balrog_catapult.png|Using the catapults in the Fighter aircraft's takeoff platform Items There are three items related to the Strider series: * Striders Scarf ( , Strider's Scarf in English) - Available in the Item Shop during Chapter 23. * Green Chinese Clothes ( , Green Chinese Outfit in English) - Tong Pooh's exclusive drop item. * Scale of the Mysterious Aquatic Lifeform ( , Sea-Dweller's Scale in English) - Available in the Item Shop during Chapter 23, the item is a nod to the Merrow serving as the core of the Balrog. "Mysterious Aquatic Lifeform" is how she's described in concept art. * Legendary Chinese Clothes ( , Legendary Chinese Getup in English) - An item dropped by Tong Pooh in Challenge Stage #5. It's an exclusive equipment for Chun-Li, and possibly a nod to the fact Tong Pooh inspired her original design. Crosspedia The Crosspedia is a special section found in-game with two sections: a tutorial which explains gameplay elements, and an encyclopedia which provides short background information for every playable, solo and enemy unit, as well as important terms and/or organizations from all represented franchises. The Crosspedia features 4 entries related to the Strider series: Translated Japanese entries= |-| Official English entries= |-| Other Notes and References * Hiryu performs most of his techniques from Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in his and Hotsuma's techniques and attacks. ** "Formation B & Spin Slash" (back) - Hiryu uses Formation B to summon a saucer, follows it with a Light-Mid-Arch Cut combo, jumps back, strikes with an aerial Mid attack and ends wtih Formation B (Shot). ** "Ame-no-Murakumo & Tate" (forward) - Hiryu starts with a Gram, dashes back, sends a Hawk with Formation A2 and finishes with a strong Ame-no-Murakumo. ** "Excalibur & Shuriken Blast" (up) - Hiryu begins with a Slide Kick, then warps up and performs an Excalibur angled downwards, follows it with a Backward Somersault (from Strider 2) and ends the attack with a horizontal Excalibur in mid-air. ** "Vajra & Ninja Dog Yamato" (down) - Hiryu performs his Vs. series tumbling back dash, sends a Panther with Formation A1 and finishes with a Vajra kick. ** "Legion" (support) - Hiryu enters the screen using Excalibur, warps into mid-air to perform an air Gram and ends with Legion. ** "Ragnarok" (Special) - Hiryu initiates the attack by activating Ouroboros and shooting energy rings at the target, strikes with a Mid attack, shoots a few more rings and then uses Ame-no-Murakumo to send the target flying. After Hotsuma strikes them several times, Hiryu ends the Special by catching the target and performing the Ultimate version of his Ragnarok Hyper Combo. * Hiryu also performs all his moves from Strider 2 in certain attacks: ** Hiryu and Hotsuma's neutral attack ("Savage Slash") features a combination of techniques from Strider 2: Hiryu opens the attack by performing three fast slashes in the manner of his basic attack animation (one angled up, one straight and one angled down), follows up with a Backward Somersault to cling to the screen's edge, performs a Hassou Jump off the edge and ends the move by doing the Savage Slash in mid-air. ** Hiryu and Hotsuma's multi-target MAP attack ("It Is The Heart That Kills") features Hiryu using the "Boost" power-up at the beginning, shooting several multi-colored homing plasma waves at all targets in a faithful recreation of the original move. * Most of Hiryu's basic Cypher slashes are done with Ultimate's Mid-strength attack, which is a perfectly horizontal slash. This is likely a nod to Hiryu's original attack animation in Strider, which was also perfectly horizontal. * Tong Pooh's idle stance during combat is identical to her sprite in Strider 2. Her attack animations are also inspired by attacks from her Strider 2 boss fight. ** Her single-target attack is the "Plasma Kick", and features her performing several mid-air strikes before leaning down and striking with her signature plasma-enhanced back spin kick. Several of the kick sprites used during the attack are taken as-is from her assist attack in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. ** Her multi-target attack is the "Triple Plasma Kick" ("Clone Plasma Kick" in English), and features her performing the "Three-Way Kick" attack from Strider 2 (where the last surviving sister kicks at several directions in mid-air, releasing plasma projectiles with each kick) and finishes by calling her two sisters to do three synchronized back spin kicks. Pei and Sai appear in their Strider 2 sprite design. * Solo's armor design is taken from Strider 2, and includes details that were removed from the in-game sprite, such as the "Tail Whip" weapon coming from the back of his head. As a minor enemy, however, Solo has no unique attack animation or item. * Series references in the dialogue include: ** Hiryu's line from Stage 00 of Strider 2 where he refers to himself as the hunter and Meio as the prey is referenced two times: one of his lines during "Ragnarok" ("You're the one being hunted") and as part of his unique exchange when paired with Felicia, where he starts the line only to be interrupted by a nervous Felicia, who doesn't like hunters nor being the prey. ** In Hiryu's post-battle conversation with Segata Sanshiro, the latter asks Hiryu if he's prepared to "make the entire world his enemy", a line taken from the prologue text in Strider 2, which states Hiryu is determined to fulfill his mission "even if it puts him against the entire world". ** In their pre-battle convo with Heihachi, he mentions bringing up an attack helicopter to fight and both Hiryu and Hotsuma agree they are useless. This is a nod to the fact both have destroyed helicopters in their respective games: Hotsuma as the initial boss in Shinobi and Hiryu in the form of either the Stealth Chopper in the manga or the Beluga F in Strider 2. ** Solo's introduction line in Chapter 7 is the same pre-boss line he speaks in his first boss battle from Strider 2. ** In Chapter 12, while the characters are wondering how to enter the Ancient Castle in Mallet Island (from Devil May Cry), Hiryu thinks that he could use his Climb Sickle to go over the walls. This is possibly a nod to the introduction area in Fortress Wahnen, where Hiryu climbs a similar castle wall to infiltrate the fortress. ** In the Epilogue Hiryu mentions that the Striders was once in shambles and he's looking for new members. This is a reference to the backstory in Strider 2, where the organization was almost entirely exterminated. * Treasure chests in the Balrog stage are shaped like the Item Boxes from Strider 2. * Stage 37 (Tong Pooh and Solo's final appearance) is named "A Flash of Light that Tints Darkness" ( ), the tagline used in the Japanese version of Strider 2. In the English localization the title was changed to "Cypher Punk", a pun on the sci-fi genre "Cyberpunk" (which the Strider series identifies with) and Hiryu's weapon, the Cypher. * Game director Soichiro Morizumi stated in an interview he wanted to include Hiryu's Boomerang throw trick from the manga as one of his attacks, but gave up on the idea as he considered it would have been very confusing.Staff (November 4, 2015). "Project X Zone 2: Brave New World Cross-talk interview with Developers going beyond the boundaries of the manufacturer (Part 2) (Japanese). famitsu.com. Accessed October 3, 2016 Gallery Artwork= Pxz2 hiryu art.png|Strider Hiryu official art Pxz2_hiryu_dialog_art.png|Hiryu's dialog artwork Pxz2_hiryu_unmasked.png|Hiryu unmasked Pxz2_tongpooh_dialog.png|Tong Pooh's dialog artwork Pxz2_solo_dialog.png|Solo's dialog artwork Pxz2 balrog art.png|Battleship Balrog official art (website) Pxz2_balrog_ingame_art.png|Battleship Balrog official art (in-game) Pxz2_balrog_goliath.png|Development Dock artwork Pxz2_balrog_reactor_core.png|Reactor Core artwork Pxz2_hiryu_intro.png|Hiryu in the game's animated intro |-| Screenshots= Pxz2_hiryu_dialog.png|Hiryu speaking with Hotsuma Pxz2_hiryu_idle.png|Hiryu's idle stance Pxz2_unit_select.png|In the unit select screen Pxz2_hiryu_midaregiri.png|Midare-giri/Savage Slash Pxz2_hiryu_hassou.png|Hassou Jump Pxz2_hiryu_amenomurakumo.png|Ame-no-Murakumo Pxz2 hiryu optiona.png|Option A Pxz2 solo screen.png|Option C Pxz2_hiryu_dual.png|Legion (cut-in animation) Pxz2_hiryu_legion.png|Legion Pxz2_hiryu_ragnarok.png|Ragnarok Pxz2_hiryu_trainingroom.png|Hiryu and Hotsuma in Training Mode Pxz2_hiryu_hotsuma_and_natsu.png|Natsu (from SoulCalibur) attempting to give Hiryu and Hotsuma some "advice" Pxz2 tongpooh.png|Tong Pooh's map and dialog sprites Pxz2 tongpooh plasma kick.png|Tong Pooh's "Plasma Kick" Pxz2 tong pooh sisters.png|Tong Pooh's "Triple Plasma Kick" Pxz2 solo.png|Solo's map and dialog sprites |-| References External links *Official website (Japanese) Category:Games Category:Crossovers